A (Non-Authoritative) History of
Oxford Orphanage

Prior to the Civil
War, the Masonic Fraternity of North Carolina was much smaller
and more fragmented than it is today. In that era, Masons in
other states promoted philanthropy by supporting Masonic colleges
and seminaries. North Carolina Masons hoped such an institution
would serve the common good of the state, as well as provide a
rallying point for their fraternity.

The story of the
Masonic Home for Children at Oxford began in 1838 when David W.
Stone introduced a set of resolutions at the annual communication
of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina "to establish a Masonic
Seminary for the education of children attached to the
Fraternity." The resolutions passed, but nothing came of
them. The Grand Lodge formed a committee to investigate the
possibility of such an institution, but in 1839 the committee
asked for a postponement of consideration, and did so again in
1840. In 1842 T. J. Lemay proposed "that the Grand Lodge
should...provide for the establishment of a committee to study
and report plans for the establishment of a charity school."

Grand Master W. F.
Collins prepared a circular dated December 28, 1847, writing: "It
is known to every member of the fraternity that this subject has
occupied the attention of the Grand Lodge at every communication
since 1838. I will, however, here remark, that very little has
been done, except to resolve and report upon the subject; the
time has now arrived for action – ACTION! Let us, then, not
leave to be done by others that which is our duty to perform."

Collins pointed
out that Pennsylvania, New York, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas,
Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee boasted such Masonic schools, and
noted that Hiram Lodge in Raleigh had already appropriated $1,000
for such an establishment. The first three lodges to appoint
Trustees and report funds raised were Wake Forest, Concord in
Tarboro, and St. John's in Wilmington.

The Grand Lodge
passed a resolution in 1847 stating that the seminary of learning
should educate "free from charge such poor and destitute
orphans and children of living brother Masons who have not the
means to confer the benefit upon their offspring, upon a fair and
equitable plan of admission to be determined by the Grand Lodge."
They decided that the school should be set up when $15,000 had
been raised and noted that fundraising plans had already been
drawn up in the Proceedings of 1846.

In 1850 Luke
Blackmer moved that the school be located in the small town of
Oxford and the Lodge appointed a committee to determine a course
of study. This was a daring venture for North Carolina Masons as
there were only 65 lodges in the state with less than 5,000
members at the time. The committee urged that astronomy, natural
philosophy, chemistry, geology, electricity and galvanism should
be taught, with emphasis on architecture, the power of steam and
its application to machinery, various processes of manufactures,
metallurgy, natural history and engineering. The aim was to
"furnish all young men with as full and complete a
collegiate education as can be obtained at any similar
institution in the Union."

A committee was
appointed to acquire property in Oxford and procure from the
general assembly an act of incorporation for a "Masonic
College," to be named St. John's College. The Masons bought
109 acres near the Oxford city limits at a price of $4,480.

In 1855 Captain
John Berry of Orange County and Major J. N. Holt of Warren County
won the construction contract, for a price of $22,500. On June 24
of that year, the traditional anniversary of the birth of St.
John the Baptist, the cornerstone of St. John's College was laid
with appropriate Masonic ceremonies: "The capstone having
been lowered, the principal architect presented the working tools
to the Grand Master, who handed them to the three principal
officers for the testing of the work. With the square, the Deputy
Grand Master proved the stone square, and that the craftsmen had
performed their duty. With the level, the Senior Grand Warden
pronounced it level and the Junior Grand Warden announced that it
was true to the plumb. Corn as an emblem of plenty was scattered
on the stone, the wine of joy and gladness was poured, and the
oil of peace poured out, symbolizing love and sympathy for the
widow and orphan, and mercies for them."

Rev. Leonidas
Smith of Warrenton addressed the several thousand Masons in
attendance: "Let Masons then cherish this institution of
itself. It will be a refutation of all the slander that has been
heaped on the fraternity. It will show what we are and what we
aim to accomplish. It will be a standing evidence of our
character, of our ability and of our benevolent intentions."

When completed in
December of 1857 the building expressed the intentions of the
Masonic Fraternity: "The building is 122 feet by 40 feet,
the center is 63 feet, is four stories and a basement, contains
53 dormitories, a Chapel 40 feet by 60 feet, four recitation
rooms, two society rooms and other rooms for chemical and other
purposes." The four rooms suited for accommodations of
professors were provided each with a fireplace. The chapel with
its gallery could seat 1,200 people comfortably.

The college opened
on July 13, 1858, but floundered. The school changed hands
several times and converted from one type of institution to
another. The Grand Lodge tried unsuccessfully to offer the
building to the State as a military school when the Civil War
broke out, and war refugees were allowed to squat in the building
for some time as makeshift caretakers.

For years the
Grand Lodge tried to sell the property as one failed venture
after another occupied it. In December of 1872, John H. Mills
suggested that "St. John's College be made into an asylum
for the protection, training and education of indigent orphan
children." After a raucous debate, Grand Master JohnNichols cast the deciding vote, launching the first permanent
orphanage in North Carolina:

The Oxford
Orphan Asylum.

John H. Mills,
also the founder and editor of the Biblical Recorder, a
publication of the Baptists of North Carolina, was elected
superintendent. The Grand Lodge appropriated $500 for the initial
support of the institution. Mills moved into the dilapidated
building, with its missing windowpanes, and began working using
the one chair and one table available.

On a cold, bleak
Saturday afternoon in February 1873, Robert L. and Nancy Parrish
and Isabelle Robertson, all from Granville County, were received
into the home. Past Grand Master Francis D. Winston recalled the
scene: "I was a student at Oxford in the Horner Military
Academy and saw Mr. Mills receive the first orphan at this
institution. I shall not forget the scene. I had gone there to
carry a bundle of clothing collected from my fellow students. It
was on Saturday afternoon. A dull cloud hung in the sky. A man
with a one-horse wagon drove to the door. Mr. Mills, with gruff
voice, asked his mission. He told it. The gigantic form of our
friend shook with emotion. He lifted the pale youth from the
wagon with the paw of a lion. He raised him in the air, and with
melting pity and tears, let him drop upon his heart and kissed
him. It was indeed the caress of the lion, but it was truly the
caress of love."

The people of
Granville County and the state responded well to requests for
help. There were many days when the bottom of the flour barrel
had to be scraped and the last stick of wood put into the little
stove to keep the children warm. One may read of Mills' journeys
with his old wagon on foraging trips. Later a group of children,
singing and taking collections, brought considerable financial
help and became the forerunner of the Oxford Orphanage Singing
Class, officially begun in June 1873.

The institution
admitted 136 children the first year, with 109 remaining at the
year's close. The Grand Lodge raised its donation to $1,000 the
second year.

The Asylum's
mission was handicapped in the beginning by poor transportation
across the state, which especially affected the ability to reach
children in the mountains. On a trip to the French Broad Baptist
Association meeting in Buncombe County in 1874 Mills met John
Robert Sams, who shared Mills' concern for children from the
mountains. Mills and Sams accepted an offer of the buildings and
grounds of the abandoned Mars Hill College in Madison County by
its Trustees. Since Mills' title was Superintendent of the
Asylum, Sams became Steward of the Mars Hill Branch. Sally Greene
of Greensboro was appointed First Matron.

The Mars Hill
branch received its first child, Zeb Vance Goode of Burke County,
in 1874. Goode ran away the next year. Some children were sent
from Oxford and some admitted from surrounding counties. In 1875
the Masons voted against the proposal of Rev. L. M. Pease of
Asheville that the Mars Hill branch be moved to that city, but
Pease moved the institution to a rental house there anyway. Per a
clause in the Mars Hill agreement stating that the college should
be used as an orphanage, the property reverted to its Trustees.
The Masons were not able to modify the rental property to meet
the needs of the children. With no suitable location available
for the Asheville branch, Grand Master George W. Blount directed
it to be closed and all children moved back to Oxford.

In 1876 the Grand
Lodge appointed a committee to request an annual appropriation
for the orphanage before the General Assembly. The General
Assembly made no appropriation but encouraged the committee that
such an investment might later be made. The next year a committee
including T. S. Kenan and Zebulon Vance again appeared before the
General Assembly, making clear that the benefits of the orphanage
were not only for the children of Masons, and that in fact most
of the children in the Asylum had no affiliation with Masonry. In
1878 Senator W. S. Harris of Franklin introduced a resolution
that was approved, appropriating $3,000 per year to the
orphanage. This amount grew to $5,000 in 1881 and $10,000 in
1885.

The orphanage
constructed a house in 1879 for hospital use. The following year
the orphanage needed an additional boys' building, so part of its
land was sold to raise money. The building was erected in 1882
and located several hundred yards west of the College.

A considerable
awakening of interest in orphanage work in North Carolina brought
more financial help for the orphanage during the years of
1879-80. Each Masonic Lodge appointed an Orphan Asylum Committee
to raise interest in the orphanage and collect funds to send to
the superintendent. Religious denominations passed resolutions
commending the work at Oxford and urged their pastors to forward
collections from their churches to the superintendent. The
state's appropriation grew to $5,000 in 1881 and to $10,000 in
1885.

Until 1884 the
superintendent of the orphanage reported directly to the Grand
Lodge and was annually re-elected by the body. As of 1882 the
Asylum employed:

Students were also
given vocational training. Older girls assisted in ordinary
housework and the making and mending of clothes. Older boys
assisted in the preparations of firewood and coal, care of
livestock and cultivation of the soil. Although only $500 was
appropriated for the first year's work, Mills reported that
$5,704 had been spent and $160 was left over.

In January of
1884, Grand Master Bingham and the Orphan Asylum Committee
recommended that the Grand Lodge appoint a Board of Directors for
the orphanage. Mills was re-elected as superintendent, but
declined to accept, as he considered the creation of the Board a
reflection of his ability to manage the orphanage. He agreed to
remain in charge until his successor was chosen.

The successor was
Dr. Benjamin Franklin Dixon, who began on Apr. 1, 1884 and built
upon Mills' foundation. The Walker building was erected during
this year, thanks to a gift of $1,000 from Mrs. Letitia Morehead
Walker in memory of her son, John Morehead Walker. Another house
was built just to the northwest of the Walker building. It housed
the superintendent for two decades and in 1904 was converted into
a hospital.

Dixon
enthusiastically supported the children's vocational training.
The cornerstone of the Angela B. Duke "Industrial"
Building was laid on June 24, 1886, with Gov. A. M. Scales
present. The building opened in March 1887. In May a shoe making
and repairing department was added, allowing the boys the
opportunity for industrial training in the printing office, in
the shoe shop, and on the farm. The shoe shop and printing
departments moved into their own buildings that year.

During Dixon's
progressive administration the number of children peaked at 264.
Dixon resigned in September of 1890 and the Reverend Junius T.
Harris, a Methodist minister, was elected to replace him.
Unfortunately, Harris was stricken with pneumonia and died on
Nov. 19, a little over a month later. Dixon returned to manage
the orphanage until a replacement could be found.

In January of 1891
Dr. W. S. Black of Raleigh was elected superintendent. His wife,
"Aunt Mary," was well loved by the children. During his
administration the age of discharge for the children was raised
from 16 to 18. The orphanage opened a broom factory on the
property but it was a short-lived venture. Mrs. Black died Oct.
31, 1893. Dr. Black resigned from the orphanage in May of 1894
and returned to preaching.

N. M. Lawrence of
Tarboro was elected superintendent following Black's departure
and incorporated the Oxford, North Carolina, Orphan Asylum early
in his administration. Lawrence converted the orphanage from its
previous "barracks" system to a more efficient cottage
system still in use today. Benjamin Duke, a director of the
institution on the part of the State, offered to donate half the
funds needed for the new buildings if the Masons could procure
the rest. Four boys' cottages, four girls' cottages and a central
dining room were completed by 1899.

The orphanage
purchased the Hundley Bros. woodworking shops in 1896 for the
children's training. The woodworking shop was moved some distance
from the grounds closer to the boys' cottages, into a brick
building erected mostly out of material from the boys' old
building. Not far from the woodshop two brick buildings were
erected for laundry, sewing, the printing office and the shoe
shop.

Lawrence resigned
from the orphanage on July 1, 1898. He was succeeded by Colonel
William J. Hicks, who ran a powder mill near Raleigh during the
Civil War. Around that time the Board of Directors created the
office of Lady Supervisor and selected an energetic and capable
woman, Nettie Nichols Bemis, as the first to hold this position.
Miss Bemis began in August of 1897.

The industrial
departments of the institution were centralized for supervision
and economy. Rooms for the superintendent were converted into
classrooms in the St. John's College building, and the
superintendent's residence was converted into a hospital. A
separate administration building was erected, verandas added to
the St. John's College, deep wells bored and sewer systems
installed.

The orphanage was
relatively quiet in 1903 - there was not an automobile in town,
no paved sidewalks or streets, no motion pictures, and no
electric lights. On College Street, the orphanage was lined with
a whitewashed plank fence. The 1902 orphanage report states that
C. W. Toms of Durham, at his own expense, got an estimate for the
installation of an electric light plant: $4,750. The Board
decided not to install it.

During 1918 the
influenza epidemic hit the orphanage. Miss Bemis remembers there
being 250 children sick at one time, 42 of them with pneumonia.
With nine of the faculty sick as well, townspeople volunteered to
come to the campus to cook, nurse, or perform other chores.

Hicks offered his
resignation on September 1, 1909 but remained when R. L. Brown
was elected assistant superintendent. On Jan. 14, 1911, Col.
Hicks died and Brown took his place. The Grand Lodge had now
raised its annual donation to $3,600, the state appropriating
$30,000, and the orphanage could accommodate 325 children. During
Brown's administration the cottages were remodeled and a
fireproof school building was erected and named after Past Grand
Master John Nichols. In 1918 the orphanage had new sidewalks
poured over the existing dirt paths worn by the children. A new
hospital was erected and named for Colonel Hicks. The orphanage
was separated from the school, so now the Superintendent and
school principal could each devote their full time to their
respective duties. Nettie N. Bemis served as part-time principal
during the school term, 1925-1926. Superintendent Brown died on
Mar. 12, 1928 while walking across the campus.

The Manual Arts
Training Miss Bemis received at the Pratt Institute before she
came to the orphanage served the children well. Girls were
trained to work with raphia, reed, and to make baskets, while
boys were trained in woodworking, metal work, and electricity.
The Arts and Crafts Department was self-supporting, with
townspeople and friends of the Home placing orders for baskets
and crafts during its heyday. During World War I the Manual Arts
Fund was used to buy liberty loan bonds, and exhibits of the
children's work were sent to be displayed at the State Fair.

In 1921 the Oasis
and Sudan Temples installed the Shrine Swimming Pool, saving the
older boys from damming up the flow from the Thousand Dollar
Spring back on the farm, and swimming in the resulting flow. Two
athletic directors shared recreational duties. Forty-seven boy
passed the athletic badge test, receiving medals for efficiency
from the Red Cross instructors who administered the tests.

The York Rite Loan
Fund was established to send worthy orphanage students to
college; the A. B. Andrews fund for the same purpose; and the
York Rite Library Fund was established to purchase books and
magazines for the children. The orphanage also became the
beneficiary of the legacies of Benjamin N. Duke and a Trust Fund
given by John Neal, a graduate of the orphanage. The enrollment
in the orphanage topped 400, the property valued around $1.3
million, and the annual expenditures at $175,000.

The Oxford
Orphanage

In 1923 the name
of the institution was officially changed to "Oxford
Orphanage." Lucille Tuttle of Asheville became the first
"institutional visitor," later known as "caseworker"
and today as “Director of Admissions." Robert E. Ward,
a former student of the Home, managed the Department of Practical
Electricity. His course was quite popular with the older boys,
teaching repairing and rewinding motors, armatures and
transformers, together with other commercial electrical business.

The High School
presented its first diplomas in 1922 to a graduating class of
ten. Five entered East Carolina College, two attended Woman's
College at Greensboro, one at Greensboro College, one at Wake
Forest and one entered nurse's training at Park View Hospital in
Rocky Mount. By that time there were 11 grades with 122 pupils
who followed a course of study closely matched to that of the
state. The classrooms in the old Main Building were crowded, long
and narrow, and poorly lit. Part of one grade had to be
transferred to the study room in First Girls' Cottage ("1-G").
Sixty-five former students gathered in the Masonic Hall on June
27, 1924, to form the Oxford Orphanage Alumni Association.

The William J.
Hicks Memorial Hospital was completed in 1924, just north of the
Administration building. It was furnished with steel furniture
and contained an operating room, a chemical laboratory and a
dentist's office. The hospital had 70 beds and in time of need
could hold 140. On April 9, 1924, Miss Nettie N. Bemis laid the
first brick in the foundation of the John Nichols School
Building. It was large enough to accommodate considerable
increases in enrollment; its designers paid particular attention
to lighting, ventilation and sanitation. The school was completed
in 1925: fireproof, sanitary, and up-to-date in every respect, at
a cost of $85,000. It was accredited by the State Board of
Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary
Schools, and educated both orphanage students and city children
as part of the Oxford City School System.

On Aug. 1, 1928,
the Reverend Creasy K. Proctor of Rocky Mount assumed the duties
of superintendent. He at once stepped into prominence around the
town and county. He organized the Granville County Chamber of
Commerce and served as president for two years. He was president
of the Rotary and Shrine clubs, and his Masonic affiliations
embraced all degrees of the York and Scottish Rites and the Sudan
Shrine. He was deeply interested in renovating the orphanage's
buildings, and was instrumental in the erection of the R. C. Dunn
"Baby" Cottage and the Angela B. Duke "Industrial"
building. During his administration the enrollment of the home
peaked at 393 children. Rev. Proctor died on June 25, 1946.

After Dr.
Proctor's passing, some twenty men applied for consideration for
Superintendent. The Board of Directors met in Raleigh on November
25, 1946, and selected the Reverend Alan DeLeon Gray, a Methodist
minister and graduate of the Duke Divinity School.

Eli Troy Regan, a
1929 graduate of Elon College, joined the orphanage staff that
year as the athletic director for boys and served as the first
football coach at the orphanage. The team chose the name "Red
Devils." Regan served for 42 years at the Orphanage: 14
years as football coach, 14 as principal of John Nichols School,
and 14 as assistant superintendent under Mr. Gray.

The Oxford
Orphanage Singing Class, well known throughout the state,
discontinued their travels in 1942 due to World War II gasoline
and tire rations. The singing class had not only provided great
financial support for the Home, but also was an excellent public
relations vehicle. The mid-forties also marked the last St.
John's Day celebration for some time, due to the war and the
polio epidemic.

After the war the
Singing Class returned in the form of the John Nichols School
Choruses – a boys' chorus, girls' chorus, mixed chorus,
boys' quartets, girls' quartets, and so on. Glancing through
issues of The Log, the Orphanage's year book, from these years
yields records of these groups attending competitions around the
state and returning with superiors and other awards.

A favorite trip of
the Singing Class, Chorus, and later the church choir was the
annual Mocksville Picnic, held on the second Thursday of each
August. The Eastern Star Ladies and Masonic wives of the
Mocksville, Advance and Farmington Lodges collaborate to hold an
extremely popular outdoor pot luck dinner, charging admission to
raise funds for the orphanage. The children performed a small
concert beforehand and afterward enjoyed an afternoon of carnival
rides there on the grounds. The Mocksville Picnic was begun in
the 19th century and continues to this day.

The year 1951 saw
the cornerstones laid for Masters Cottage (Jan. 23) and the York
Rite Memorial Chapel (Apr. 30), which are still in use. The
basement of the chapel was used for theatrical productions and
assemblies for years, and now holds the education facilities of
the Home. Masters Cottage was named because of earlier social
conventions dictating that young men be called “Master
John” etc, the tradition continued on the campus. The
Cottage young boys aged between Baby Cottage and 1-B; it now
houses "Independent Living" students who attend college
elsewhere but still call the Orphanage home.

Construction began
on the Creasy K. Proctor Recreation Center on Apr. 6, 1955, the
cornerstone laid by Maurice Parham and A. D. Leon Gray. The
building houses a full-sized gymnasium, two large classrooms,
large training rooms in the basement and full locker room
facilities. The orphanage laid the second cornerstone for the new
St. John's Administration Building on June 24 of the same year.
The building was occupied in March 1959, eight months before the
laying of the cornerstone for the new dining hall and kitchen
building, which was connected to the rear of the administration
building.

Beginning in 1964
the older boys' and girls' cottages were torn down and new
cottages constructed. Nine new buildings were completed and named
in honor of past employees or benefactors. The cottages were
constructed of cinderblock and brick for about $255,000 each. The
first floor of each cottage offers spacious living and study
areas, as well as a small kitchen, washer/dryer rooms and
apartments for the cottage parents. The second floors contain 14
rooms for students and a large central bath and shower room.

In
1965 the Royster Building burned. General Royster was a lawyer in
Oxford, a friend of the Home from its inception, and the only
Grand Master from Oxford. His namesake building housed little
girls aged between Baby Cottage and 1-G and was located about
where Brown Cottage is today. The girls lived in the Hicks
hospital until Brown Cottage was completed. In its later years,
Hicks was used to house each cottage as one of the older
buildings was torn down and replaced with the newer structure.

The Blue Lodge
Vocational Building was completed in late 1965, providing a new
home for the electrical, woodworking and printing departments. In
1996 several rooms in the Blue Lodge building were converted to
house the Sally Mae Ligon Archives, begun at the hands of Mrs.
Pat Colenda. In 1968 the old School of Printing building, the
School of Electricity and the Shoe Shop along College street was
demolished and a modern home constructed in its place. The home
first housed the Dean of Students and today houses the Treasurer.
In the same year another house was built along College Street
next to the Superintendent's house; it has traditionally housed
the Chaplain.

In 1973 the Oxford
Orphanage Red Devils switched from football to soccer due to
equipment costs. The football field saw its last use in the fall
of 1972, and Brent Stewart was hired as the orphanage's first
soccer coach. The large corn field behind the Proctor Gymnasium
was levelled and converted into a soccer and baseball field. The
original baseball field was located where the Olympic pool is
now, with home plate by the farm office and center field to the
rear of Master's Cottage.

Superintendent
Gray retired in 1973. Henry F. Flowers succeeded him, but
resigned shortly afterwards. Johnny Ferguson had been chosen to
succeed Flowers, but was terminated in five months. The Board
selected Robert Winston as superintendent in 1975. Under his
administration the old Hicks hospital building was destroyed and
an infirmary was installed in the second floor of the St. John's
administration building.

In 1976 Winston
and Grand Master Les Garner reinstated St. John's Day
celebration, which hadn't been held since World War II.
Initially, the celebration was rather small and held on Sunday –
attendance hovered around three or four hundred. The parade lined
up behind the Treasurer's Residence, went nearly around “The
Circle,” and returned to the field behind Flowers and Regan
cottages. The first units included the Sudan Band and the color
guard.

In following years
the parade outgrew the campus, but local churches protested a
parade past their sanctuaries during worship hour. The
celebration was moved to Saturday, and attendance exploded to its
present size. The first entertaining act was to be Frances
Bavier, known as Aunt Bea from Andy Griffith, but she took ill
and couldn't attend. They then tried to schedule Don Knotts but
he had other obligations. They finally settled on Chub Sewell, a
lawyer and public speaker from Carthage. In 1974, the next year,
a country music act was scheduled.

Winston resigned
in 1981 and "Gabe" Austell was hired on May 25 of the
same year. He left the Home on Feb. 3, 1984, and Don Moul
succeeded him on Aug. 1, 1984. Moul left the home on Mar. 29,
1989.

In the 1980s the
campus of the Orphanage saw several of its older buildings
destroyed. 4-G, the last of the original cottages, was demolished
in June of 1984. The vacant Duke "Industrial" Building
was razed in 1985; later St. John's Day visitors parked their
recreational vehicles over its foundation. In 1987 the Oasis
Shrine swimming pool was filled in and a new Olympic size pool
constructed in the field behind Masters Cottage.

On Sept. 11, 1986,
John Nichols School was demolished and orphanage students began
attending Granville County public schools. Nine years later,
basketball courts were constructed over the school's foundation;
the library shelves and some of its books remain buried beneath
the concrete. Across campus, the children's plans to scale the
old water tower behind the administration building were dashed
when it was disassembled in 1993.

The Masonic
Home for Children

The Rev. David R.
Grissom was selected superintendent and began on January 3, 1990.
Well loved and trusted by the children, Rev. Grissom worked
tirelessly to improve their education and quality of life. To
avoid stigmatizing the children as "orphans" and to
better reflect the Home's current population, the administration
officially changed the institution's name to The
Masonic Home for Children
in 1994.

During 1997 and
1998 several generous donors gave money to help renovate the
aging York Rite Chapel. Spearheaded by chaplain Sherri Moore, the
improvements included replacing the carpet in the sanctuary,
installing nine beautiful stained
glass windows, and a
Yamaha baby grand piano and an Allen digital pipe organ which
enjoy the Chapel's wonderful acoustics. In 1998 the empty chapel
basement, formerly rented out to the public school system, was
converted into a library and educational center for the children
with the help of generous donations. The children have access to
a computer lab for research and classwork, and now each cottage
has several computer workstations with Internet access thanks to
a campus-wide fiber-optic network installed in 1999.

In 2000 the Home
launched an ambitious campaign to attain state licensing, in
addition to improving and expanding services to the children.
Construction has begun on a set of new, handicap-accessible
one-story cottages situated in a semi-circle beginning just
behind Dunn Cottage and wrapping around into the middle of the
field behind the swimming pool and tennis courts.

In June of 2003 Reverend Grissom left the home to return to the pulpit
full-time, and Mr. Allen Hughes, a former student of the Home, was
appointed acting Superintendent.